Gunman kills son and injures husband of US judge on doorstep of family home
20 July 2020, 13:56
A gunman posing as a delivery man has shot the son and husband of a US federal judge as they answered the door of the family home in New Jersey.
Daniel Anderl, the 20-year-old son of US district judge Esther Salas, was killed in the doorstep attack, while her husband, defence lawyer Mark Anderl, was injured.
The gunman is believed to have been posing as a FedEx delivery person, and fled the scene after the attack.
Judge Salas was in the basement at the time of the incident and was not believed to have been harmed.
The FBI says it is looking for one suspect in the deadly attack on the college student, who is the judge's only son.
Seated in Newark and having been nominated by then-president Barack Obama, Judge Salas' most high-profile case in recent years was that of a financial fraud case involving Real Housewives Of New Jersey stars Teresa and Joe Giudice.
The husband-and-wife defendants were sentenced to prison for crimes involving bankruptcy fraud and tax evasion.
Other high-profile cases, include the barring of federal prosecutors from seeking the death penalty against a gang leader charged with several killings in Newark, and presiding over a case brought by investors of Deutsche Bank.
In this case, the investors claimed the company made false statements about its anti-money laundering policies, and that it did not properly monitor "high-risk" customers, such as the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
In a statement on Sunday, Democratic New Jersey senator Bob Menendez, who also supported judge Salas' nomination, said his condolences to the family for the "horrendous" attack, and added that he hoped the culprits would be "swiftly apprehended and brought to justice".
Meanwhile, Democratic New Jersey governor Phil Murphy said the shooting was a "senseless act" that served as "the latest reminder that gun violence remains a crisis in our country and that our work to make every community safer isn't done."